Tensions are running high within the Senate Democratic caucus after Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) launched into a heated tirade against several of his colleagues, accusing them of backing what he called pro-Trump policies.
Booker criticized the legislation in question as a “poison pill” aligned with former President Donald Trump’s agenda, including tax cuts. He also warned that it could result in cuts to social programs and create an imbalance in police funding between blue and red states.
“The Democratic Party needs a wake-up call. I see law firms bending a knee to this president, not caring about the larger principles, that those free speech rights that you can take on any client, why are you bending the knee? I see universities that should be bastions of free speech bending at the knee to this president. I see businesses taking late-night talk show hosts off the air because they dare to insult a president,” Booker complained during a Senate floor speech.
He then targeted his Democratic colleagues in a move that has sharply divided the conference, reports claimed.
“And what are the very people here elected to defend the Constitution of the United States saying, ‘oh well today let’s look the other way and pass some resources’ that won’t go to Connecticut, that won’t go to Illinois, that won’t go to New York, that will go to the states he likes,” the rant continued.
“That is complicity with an authoritarian leader who is trashing our Constitution,” Booker then falsely claimed. “It’s time for Democrats to have a backbone. It’s time for us to fight. It’s time for us to draw lines,”
He went on to state that Democrats “deserve to lose” if they continue on their current path.
“When are we going to stand together for principles that I just heard that were agreed with? When are we going to stand together? If we don’t stand as Democrats, we deserve to lose,” he said.
According to Punchbowl News, Booker delivered even more forceful remarks against his colleagues behind closed doors.
“There’s a lot of us in this caucus that want to F***ING fight! And what’s bothering me right now is we don’t see enough fight in this caucus,” the senator reportedly said.
He also reportedly accused two female senators, Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), of “enabling Donald Trump to do a broadside attack on my state,” suggesting they were complicit in allowing Trump’s policies to hurt Democrat-run states.
Punchbowl News reporter Max Cohen said Booker was “heated” when he left the Senate floor. “The Democratic Party was about to give Donald Trump tens of millions of dollars when he has already told the Democratic Party, ‘I’m not gonna let blue states have this,’” Booker told the outlet.
“They were about to be complicit to the very things they say out of another side of their mouth that they object to. Democrats need to learn to fight and fight [Trump] and stop him from hurting people. In this case, he would have hurt police officers in half the states,” he claimed.
The incident with Booker comes as Senate Democrats remain split on how best to reclaim control of the Senate ahead of what’s shaping up to be a challenging 2026 map. Of the three toss-up races identified by the Cook Political Report, two are currently held by Democrats—Michigan and Georgia—while the party faces a steep climb to flip North Carolina, where Senator Thom Tillis is retiring.
Cook also rated seats in Minnesota and New Hampshire—both held by retiring Democrats—as “Lean D,” while the only GOP-held seat labeled “Lean R” is that of Senator Susan Collins in Maine. Most of the remaining contests strongly favor one party or the other.